A look back at all of this weekend's Spanish football action...
La Liga leaders FC Barcelona added to their incredible goal scoring run with a 6-0 demolition of Valladolid at the Camp Nou on Saturday. Pep Guardiola’s side have scored an incredible 34 goals in ten Spanish league games this term, giving them the best goal average in European football this season and the best goal scoring start to a season in Spain in nearly sixty years. It was the legendary Real Madrid side that featured Di Stefano, Puskas and Gento that scored 34 goals in the opening ten games of the 1959-60 season - that, ironically, went on to lose the league title that year to, none other than, FC Barcelona.
Samuel Eto'o opened the scoring on Saturday after just 12 minutes, before going on to score a further three – all in the first half! All four of the Cameroon striker’s goals showed off his key attributes – pace, power, finishing – and he has repaid Guardiola’s faith in him with his best ever figures in a Barcelona shirt: 13 goals in ten league games (plus three Champions league strikes already this season).
Eto’o now feels appreciated by the club and he is back to his very dangerous best as a result. Just as importantly, he has won over the home fans after falling out of favour with them at the tail end of last season when he appeared to deliberately pick up a booking to 'dodge' the game at the Bernabeu.
Unfortunately, it is a very different story for Thierry Henry who, in spite of getting on the scoresheet on Saturday, was whistled by the Barcelona fans whom he has failed to impress since joining the club at the beginning of last season. Henry was angry - you could see it in the way he took his goal – but he is still an awful long way away from being anywhere near his best. Guardiola still has faith in him and the French striker looks far more motivated than he has at Barcelona in the past, weighing in with 4 goals and 2 assists already this season, but those newspaper stories suggesting a move away from the club will not go away. The latest story in the Barcelona press claims that he could be the subject of an €8 million move to Chelsea in January: something denied by Barcelona.
With the goals flying in and such an impressive array of attacking players in fine form – Messi was incredible on Saturday and deserves a special mention – it would appear that, on the surface, there is little for Barcelona to be concerned about. Maybe. But there is a small cloud on the horizon and the negative impact of the injury to Andres Iniesta could be worth keeping an eye on over the next couple of months. The Spain midfielder has been ruled out until early 2009 and his absence has been described by Xavi – who is always worth listening to – as ‘the worst possible thing that could happen.’ Eto’o has just labeled Iniesta as the best player in the world in his position and it is clear that neither Hleb or Henry are anywhere near as effective for Barcelona. With key fixtures coming up against Sevilla, Villarreal, Valencia and Real Madrid, I wonder how much Barcelona will miss Iniesta and, with Real Madrid in crisis, I wonder if Villarreal will be able to capitalize on it.
Villarreal moved to within a point of Barcelona with a 2-1 victory over Almeria at El Madrigal on Sunday, while Real Madrid – in spite of all their problems – are just two points behind the leaders and level with third-placed Valencia.
Just as Eto’o did at Barcelona, Gonzalo Higuain scored four goals on Saturday, but in stark contrast with Barcelona, Real Madrid were nowhere near as convincing in their astonishing 4-3 win over Malaga at the Bernabeu.
Higuain was the hero for the home side in a match that saw Madrid trail three times and have Sergio Ramos sent off in the first half before the champions finally prevailed.
The situation at Madrid is chaotic, but let’s start wit the positives. First of all: Gonzalo Higuain. He showed everyone what he is capable of now that he has finally got to play in his favoured position – as a centre forward. After the club worked at the psychological aspect of his game and improving his self confidence, Higuain has claimed the number nine shirt and repaid his supporters with nine goals already this season. If there can be any doubt as to whether the Argentine has acquired the self belief to live up to his undoubted potential – then look no further than the way he stepped up for the match winning 96th minute penalty kick against Osasuna, with the score at 1-1, a couple of weeks ago. And for conclusive proof of his new status, with Ruud van Nistelrooy out injured, Higuain even managed to keep Raul on the bench for the entire game on Saturday.
And now for the negatives. The fans are still upset with Schuster and Calderon following the defeat to Juventus last week when Heinze, Sneijder and Van Nistelrooy all lost their cool – and even Casillas made a juvenile mistake. In the league, in spite of the fact that they are just two points behind Barcelona, Madrid are living on the edge and just about getting away with it.
The fact that Real Madrid are conceding so many goals at home – 11 of the 16 goals scored against Real Madrid have been scored at the Bernabeu – really does speak for itself and hardly supports the claims made by Schuster that this is the best defence in Europe. Saviola said that the team are in a bad way, Sergio Ramos is complaining (and lets not forget his dismissal on Saturday brings his red card tally to 8 in three years) and Guti says that there is a lack of unity both on and off the pitch.
The only person who seems to feel that there is no problem whatsoever is Schuster. He said this week that the team is balanced and that the defeat to Juventus was down to nothing more than a couple of isolated errors. Regarding his squad, the coach says that there is no need for any signings in January and that he is happy with what he has. However, privately, the players are very worried. They feel that the squad has taken a step backwards since last season and that without Robinho, they are missing some real flair.
The situation at Madrid has not been helped by injuries; Robben is out, again, and so is Van Nistelrooy. In fact, the Dutch striker who has scored 58 goals in 84 games at Madrid, could be out for a couple of months (Madrid are now incredibly secretive over injury news).
Taking all of this in to account and considering the way Madrid are playing - with progress through to the next round of the Champions league uncertain, plus some tricky games coming up against Barcelona, Sevilla and Valencia – and it is little wonder that the press are starting to write stories about who Schuster’s replacement is going to be. The Barcelona press have even suggested that Frank Rijkaard could be in the frame, but I suspect he is waiting for an offer from Milan.
Elsewere, Valencia kept their title hopes alive with an impressive 3-0 win at Getafe. Keep an eye out for an interview with Unai Emery on this website later in the week that will also be shown on Revista. Some news about Joaquin too: Juventus are interested in the player who is enjoying his best season in 3 years, but Valencia have said that, at least for now, he’s not for sale. The Italians may return in the summer and it is thought that, in spite of his €40 million buy out clause, he could go for as little as €15 million.
Sevilla moved up in to fifth place thanks to Fredi Kanoute's 63rd-minute header that was just enough to see off Recreativo Huelva in a 1-0 win. Sevilla had lost four in a row prior to this match and the return of Kanoute is key. They are not controlling games and, without the former Tottenham striker, they are ineffective up front. With expectations so high at the club after enjoying such unprecedented success under Juande Ramos, the fans are less than impressed with Manolo Jimenez.
Deportivo La Coruna are now in sixth place after just beating Espanyol 1-0. Andres Guardado scored the only goal of the game and we’ll be taking a closer look at him soon. At just 22 years of age Guardado already plays for the Mexican national team and was the focus of interest from Real Madrid, before Deportivo secured 75% of his rights for just €5 million. Lotina wants him to become the leader of the team and that figure could soon look a real bargain; the Mexican forward has a terrific left foot but could perhaps do with scoring a few more goals
And elsewhere, Portillo blew a fabulous chance to earn bottom of the table Osasuna their first win of the season after missing a first-half penalty in a goalless draw against Atletico Madrid. Mohamed Tchite scored the only goal of the game as Racing Santander beat Sporting Gijon 1-0 while Real Betis eased away from the relegation zone with their third win in four games away to Numancia (1-3). Athletic Bilbao staged a dramatic late recovery to snatch a 3-3 draw at Real Mallorca.
And finally....
Quite a few of you have been in touch asking why the Camp Nou is seemingly half empty these days. After all, with the goals flying in and the team top of the table, you’d think that the ground would be selling out every week. There were only 49,000 at the Basel game last week and just 75,000 turned up to watch the win over Atletico Madrid – when 90,000 turned up for the equivalent fixture last season.
The truth is, it is a bit of a mystery for the club as well. They are blaming a wide variety of factors that includes the credit crunch, too many televised games, late kick off times and poor parking facilities, while trying to entice the fans with discount schemes and making it as easy as possible for members to re-sell their seats if they cannot attend. Whatever the causes, the club are very worried.
Is it any one of those reasons listed above, a combination of factors, or something else – it can hardly be the football on offer. A number of you have been asking, but I know that quite a few of you reading this are regular Barcelona watchers yourselves, so let me know - why have you and your fellow supporters have been staying away?
